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Case Study Presentation @PwC

PwC Interview
New answer on Mar 12, 2024
6 Answers
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Prashanth asked on Mar 29, 2018

Hi All,

I have a case study interview/presentation to make at PwC in the coming weeks. I am told the interview is for about two hours and in the first hour I will be given a topic to prepare and present it in the second hour.

I am a bit lost with regards to the methodology. If I am given an hour to prepare my case, when am I going to ask questions and get the inputs from the Interviewer? If he isn't listening to my hypothesis then, what I am presenting?

Confused!!!

Hoping to find some direction here.

Thanks in advance

Cheers,

Prashanth

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Vlad
Expert
 replied on Mar 29, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

You'll be given a bunch of materials (Articles. P&Ls, company info, etc.) which you have to analyze and make a presentation (written or on the whiteboard). All the inputs will be inside and you'll have to select the most relevant ones.

Here I've uploaded some written case samples here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zor4m49eyx5qxal/AABeUN6mtiGkWhEklRjszX2Oa?dl=0 (ask me for a password)

The best way to prepare is the following:

  1. Prepare for a regular case interview - it helps a lot. Basically, prep lounge website is about it
  2. Practice reading cases fast and prioritizing the information. I found useful two sources:
  • Written cases you'll be able to find in google or in case books. I've seen a couple in "Vault Guide to the Case Interview" and "Insead Business Admission Test"
  • Harvard cases - either buy or try to find online. You can find a couple of MIT cases here for free: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/Pages/Case-Studies.aspx Unfortunately free cases don't have the prep questions.

Good luck!

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Prashanth on Mar 30, 2018

Thank you Vlad for the detailed approach. Really appreciate your help and advice. I came to know that the case study is going to be around HR Transformation or IT transformation strategies as I have such background. I don't know of the framework that can fit into such scenarios. Can you please help me with the same? Thanks once again. Prashanth

Murat on Jul 15, 2018

password please

Anne on Aug 15, 2018

Password please

Agguri on Sep 17, 2018

Can i get the password too

Manish Lalwani on Sep 22, 2018

Hi Vlad, Can I have the password for the dropbox link

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Francesco
Expert
Content Creator
 updated an answer on Mar 30, 2018
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Prashanth,

I would recommend you to focus on 5 areas to crack a presentation/written case; I have reported them below with some suggestions on how to prepare for each of them

1. Learn how to define a plan of action and stick to that

The first thing you should do in a written case is to define a plan and allocate in the best possible way your time. Assuming 60 minutes for the analysis, a good approach would include:

  • initial quick reading – 5-10 min
  • structure the approach – 5 min
  • make slides/answer to the questions adding detailed analysis and math – 35-40 min
  • final review – 10 min

You should then practice to stick to the time allocated, in order to maximize your final performance.

2. Practice graph interpretation

You will normally have to analyse graphs in a written case. The best way to practice is to take graphs from online resources and use a timer to test in how much time you can understand the key message. McKinsey PST graphs could be a good practice for that.

3. Work on quick reading and quick understanding of key information

You will not have time to read and prioritize everything, so you have to understand where to focus. The ideal way to practice is to use long cases such as HBS ones, and practice on reducing the time needed to absorb the key information that can answer a defined question. Quick reading techniques could also help.

4. Practice quick math

You will normally have math to do in a written case. GMAT and McKinsey PST math should work well to prepare on this.

5. Learn how to communicate your slides/answers

You may have to present your findings at the end of the case. I would apply the same structures of final sum up in a live interview case, that is:

  1. Sum up the main questions you have to answer
  2. Present your proposed answer and detail the motivation behind
  3. Propose next steps for the areas you have not covered

As you will not be able to double check hypothesis with the interviewer as in the live case before the presentation, it could make sense to clearly state when you are making hypotheses and that you will have to verify them with further analysis.

When you have to prepare slides, quoting a previous answer I would also recommend to work on

A) structure the order of the slides

Normally the structure for a 5-slide presentation is the following:

  • First slide sums up the question and provides the answer
  • Second, third and fourth slide have the supporting arguments for the first slide
  • Fifth slide has the next steps

B) structure the content of each slide

There are three basic components for slides:

  1. Title
  2. Chart or data
  3. Label for chart

Many people structure the title as the mere description of what the chart is telling. A great title, instead tells the implication of the graph. Eg say the graph is showing a cost structure for a division. A bad title would be: Cost structure from 2005 to 2015. A good title would be: Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable”. A great title would be Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable due to ABC, assuming you have insides on the cause. The rule of thumb for the title is that if you read all the titles of the slides together you should get a clear idea of what is going on.

C) present the slides

When you present, I would suggest the following steps for each slide:

  1. Introduce the slide: “Let’s move to slide 2, which will show us why we have an issue with this division”
  2. Present the main message of the slide: “As you can see, we have a cost structure which makes for us not feasible to be competitive in this market”
  3. Provide details: “The graph, indeed, shows how our fix cost is XYZ, while competitors can benefit from economies of scale. Indeed…”

Hope this helps,

Francesco

(edited)

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Prashanth on Mar 30, 2018

Thank you Francesco for the detailed approach. Really appreciate your help and advice. I came to know that the case study is going to be around HR Transformation or IT transformation strategies as I have such background. I don't know of the framework that can fit into such scenarios. Can you please help me with the same? Thanks once again. Prashanth

Francesco on Mar 31, 2018

Hi Prashanth, my pleasure to help you. To define an ideal structure for an IT/HR transformation case it would be useful to have an actual prompt of the case. I believe the best thing would be to post in a new thread on the forum a specific prompt and your suggested approach, the other experts and I could then provide some suggestions on that. Best, Francesco

Jasper on Oct 04, 2018

May I have the password for the case samples? Thank you!
Dennis
Expert
Content Creator
 replied on Mar 12, 2024
Ex-Roland Berger|Project Manager and Recruiter|7+ years of consulting experience in USA and Europe
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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
 replied on May 28, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hi!

To add on top of previous comments, in a nutshell: practice with written cases, since this will be esentially the same thing.

Cheers,

Clara

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bibek replied on Aug 09, 2019

Hi Vlad,

PL share the password. I too have an upcoming PWC interview soon

Thanks,

Bibek

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1234 replied on Mar 30, 2018
Soon-to-graduate

Hijacking the question for another question: what position are you intrerviewing for?

My tip would be reading through all the materials and only deciding on a hypothesis at the end of your material-skimming session, instead of trying to make up your mind halfaway through.

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